Apple Reports Record March Quarter iPhone Sales but Group Sales Fall
In the first three months of the 2023 calendar year, Apple sold more smartphones than ever before in a March quarter. However, overall group sales fell by three percent to 94.8 billion US dollars, with operating income also falling 5.5 percent to $28.3 billion and net income down 3.4 percent to $24.2 billion. This is the second quarter of the company’s 2023 financial year, and for now, Apple is only disclosing the operating cash flow for the two most recent quarters combined.
Although eagerly awaited, the figures are not too surprising following the group’s poor 2022 Christmas quarter, due to iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max supply chain issues. Apple was nonetheless able to shift sales to spring 2023, with iPhone sales reaching $51.3 billion — up from the same quarter last year at $50.6 billion. However, other areas of the business were not as successful as the Mac struggled, slipping to $7.2 billion, down from $10.4 billion in the same quarter of 2022.
Services were a bright spot though, with the business achieving an all-time high in sales for a second quarter, reaching $20.9 billion. Apple also returned $23 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in the quarter, with further plans to return 90 billion.
Despite the lukewarm expectations of stock market analysts, Apple’s shares rose by over 2 percent in after-hours trading upon the results’ release.
Apple CEO, Tim Cook, was pleased with the record-breaking iPhone quarter, particularly considering the challenging macroeconomic environment, and expressed his commitment to investing in the long-term. Products and supply chain are set to become CO2-neutral by 2030.
Mass layoffs are not currently planned, unlike in many other Silicon Valley companies, with Apple considering such measures as a “last resort.”
